Ozymandias
by ArchLichCovenant
Summary: Marco Diaz and Janna Ordonia are not simply the delinquents they appear to be. A chance encounter with a magical princess from another world will lead them down a rabbit hole even they are unprepared for. "Bad Boy" Marco and Safe Princess Star.
1. Ramses II

"Hey jinx girl."

The words caused Sabrina Backintosh, the unluckiest girl at Echo Creek Academy, to freeze in her tracks. A creeping dread washed over her body, as it had many times before. She knew to expect this, and it wasn't like she didn't at least somewhat look forward to what came next. She slowly turned around to see the school's resident delinquent: Marco Diaz.

"Hey" she replied meekly, unable to meet his predatory gaze "It's that time of the week, huh?"

"Don't act like you weren't waiting here for me." His voice gradually taking on a hollow, ringing quality "You're supposed to be at cheer practice already."

"Oh, I am?" her voice shook.

"Mhm, I passed by on the way" He assertively moved closer, herding the girl into a nook between rows of lockers. He grabbed her chin and twisted her face, forcing her to look directly into his lavender eyes "Ready?" he asked, Sabrina swallowing hard and nodding in response. Marco gingerly wrapped his hands around her throat, her veins beginning to glow where their skin met. She closed her eyes and gasped for air as the sensation of drowning overtook her. He could feel her start to sweat and shake under his grip. Eventually it became too much for Sabrina and her legs fell out from beneath her, Marco slowly lowering her to the ground before letting go.

"Done playing with your food, Diaz?" the voice of his partner in crime, Janna Ordonia, rang out from down the empty hall.

"Just about" he answered, rising to his feet but not taking his eyes off of the girl in front of him. The sight of Sabina, dazed in the afterglow of his feeding fueled him in a way no amount of magical energy could. While his hunger was easily sated by the overwhelming black magic of the Backintosh family curse, the source of poor Sabrina's bad luck, it was the view of his prey in such a wrecked state that had him coming back time and time again "Alright" he finally turned away "Let's bounce" he knew it was safe to leave Sabrina like this, the feeding would have temporarily dispelled said curse.

"So your place or mine?" Janna asked as he approached.

"Mine. Mehen's tree needs harvesting" he replied as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Well then, what are we waiting for" She smirked, returning the intimate gesture as they headed for the exit.

* * *

Marco and Janna's arrival was met with the silence of an empty house. She quickly kicked off her shoes and hopped on the couch, grabbing the remote and flicking on the tv. Marco sighed, making his way towards the kitchen. He still had no idea where his parents were, something that served as both a blessing and a curse. It afforded him great freedom and privacy. Freedom and privacy enough for Janna to stay the night more often than not. Still, it also came with the need to maintain the charade of normalcy twice as hard and evade the worst of trouble at school.

"You gonna just lay there or are you going to help me?" Marco shouted from the kitchen. He popped open the fridge and retrieved a single pomegranate.

"Come on" she groaned "I didn't get to feed today."

"Where was Alfonzo and Ferguson?" Marco asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. The two nerds were scared to death of Janna and had enough innate magical energy to make them her preferred victims.

"The hell if I know. They weren't at school."

"Huh. Why don't you call Daron over then?" he readied to head out the backdoor.

"Didn't you feed on her yesterday?" Janna sat up, looking over the back of the couch at Marco.

He shrugged "Yeah but she recovers fast. Besides, she never turns us down."

It was true Janna thought. The brace-faced girl was always willing to let the two of them feed on her. Too willing, It kinda creeped her out. "I don't know. Don't want to accidentally kill her" It was an excuse made less from actual concern but more from just not wanting to deal with the girl.

"Whatever" Marco headed into the backyard. He cautiously approached a small tree with pearlescent rainbow leaves. He placed the fruit in his hand at the tree's base and stepped back. He watched carefully as a similarly colourful serpent slithered down the trunk and began biting into the pomegranate. "Hey Mehen" Marco greeted the creature. Stepping around the feeding snake, he began plucking the brightest of the leaves from the tree and placing them in a nearby bucket. Once he had enough, he walked across the yard to a table that had a glass pane laying across the top. He lifted the glass off and began laying out the leaves on the table. Once he had covered the table he carefully placed the glass pane on top of them.

His work done, Marco headed back inside. Walking into his living room he found the couch surprisingly Janna free. He chuckled to himself. "Playing games again Janna?" he called out. With an ounce of focus the whites of his eyes turned gold and he began the search, looking anywhere a small object could hide. She loved showing off her skill with the technical end of their abilities which included a strong grasp of shapeshifting, something Marco had no talent for. The sound of movement under a nearby table caught his attention, and when a pen flew across the floor he pounced on it. "Aha!" he held up the writing implement only to realize that he had been fooled.

A pair of scissors leapt out from beneath the table, changing into Janna mid air and landing on Marco's back. "Gotcha" she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"You just can't help yourself? Damn show off" Marco teased.

"That's not showing off" She smiled, revealing rows of shark-like teeth which she summarily sank into his shoulder.

"Argh." Marco instinctively reached back to throw her off before stopping himself "You need to warn me when you're gonna do that."

"Where's the fun in that" her words were muffled as she held the bite for a moment longer before releasing him. Luminescent blue blood dripped from her mouth and his wound, both of which she quickly licked up.

"You're seriously messed up." he shook her off and stood up straight. She laid on her side, propping herself up with her hands. She looked up at Marco, biting her lip with the same razor teeth. "Though, I guess I'm not one to talk." He grinned wickedly before pouncing on her for real this time.

* * *

Night fell over Echo Creek, Janna exiting the Stop & Slurp with an energy drink in each hand. Marco was sitting leaned up against the front of the convenience store, rolling glimmering dried leaves into a cigarette. Janna handed Marco one of the drinks and he retrieved a rolled cigarette from behind his ear and gave it to her. Placing the one he just rolled between his own lips, Marco snapped his fingers forming a spinning wheel of flame in his hand which the pair simultaneously lit their smokes on. Shaking his hand to dispel the fire, Marco cracked his energy drink open with one hand. The two then began leisurely making their way back to the Diaz residence.

"Help me!"

Marco and Janna turned to face the source of the plea just as a girl about their age with long blonde hair and wearing a blue formal dress nearly crashed into them. "What the hell?" Marco yelled in response, the girl swiftly attempting to hide behind him.

"Um, Diaz?" Janna tapped his shoulder, returning his attention to straight ahead.

"Well you don't see that everyday" he jokingly remarked as a hoard of monsters barreled down the road in their direction. As they closed in the group fanned out to surround the three teenagers.

"Give us the girl" a blue skinned man with deer-like antlers addressed them "And you get to live."

"Wow" Janna hollered "You believe this guy?" she turned to Marco

"I know, talk about rude." he responded "Well listen here. I don't know why y'all are here or why you want this girl. I don't care. But you don't just walk up to us and start talking about letting us live." He threw off his red hoodie and t-shirt, revealing a toned and fit body more befitting a grown man than a teenager. "Not that any of that matters. I don't know how long it's been since we got to let loose and I'm itching for a fight. How about you Janna?"

"Damn straight. Let's dance freaks." She cracked her knuckles, a sound accentuated by a loud echo. Her face took on a skeletal countenance, as if her skull was superimposed over it. Marco stood tall beside her and pointed at the deer-man with his right arm. From the tip of his finger a crimson flame spread, skin and muscle evaporating as it ran up his arm to just past his elbow. It left a skeletal arm and hand tipped with crystalline claws covered in bright red flames which flowed like ink rather than flicker like flames are supposed to.

"Have it your way" the antlered monster replied "Attack!" he commanded and the monsters charged. Marco was off in a flash, hitting a clearly inhuman speed from a standstill. The only tell of his location was the blur of light from his burning arm.

"And you call me the show off?" Janna shouted after her companion. She calmly snapped her fingers as she waved her hand horizontally. The massive chicken monster in front of her was suddenly perforated, pierced by numerous invisible bullets of air. The sight shook the two-headed red creature and warthog man that stood on either side of the chicken. Shock tactics were a favourite of hers and this one bought her enough time to ready her next move. Flensing whips of air rapidly lashed from her fingertips at the two-headed one, leaving him bleeding out on the ground. The howls of pain as his ally slowly died urged the warthog to charge Janna with all his strength. She managed to grab him as he closed, bringing him to a hard stop. Without letting go she supercharged her body's electricity, frying the pig monster. "Shock tactics" she giggled to herself.

Marco slid across the asphalt in front of a buff giraffe man and three-eyed potato monster, running his skeletal hand along the surface. The street beneath the monsters quickly converted into a black, tarry fire that spread to their bodies. As they panicked, Marco seized the opportunity to double back and slice the giraffes throat with his claw (an easy target all things considered). Before he could deliver a fatal blow to the triclops he was attacked from behind. A bear with a unicorn horn attempted to slice him with a sword, a move Marco had no difficulty evading. He quickly turned and grabbed the blade, changing it to a metallic flame in the bear's hand. The bear began to freak out and stumble away from the young man. Marco snickered, snapping his fingers and firing a flaming wheel to his side where the three-eyed monster was still struggling. The spinning flame sliced through the creature as Marco rushed after the bear. Catching up to his fleeing enemy, the teenager drove his clawed hand through its chest.

Returning to each other's side, Marco and Janna looked on at the deer monster who was battering a forcefield that surrounded the blonde girl.

"Ahem" Janna cleared her throat.

"What?" The monster turned around to see his forces had been slain "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Marco responded, once again pointing at the monster. Janna joined in on the gesture and they both snapped their fingers. A slicing wheel of flame and a single bullet of air crashed into their enemy, who slumped over onto the forcefield. Janna approached the sphere of energy and found the girl within clutching a magic wand with her eyes shut. She was repeatedly muttering something Janna couldn't make out. Turning around, she shot Marco a questioning look. "Hold on one sec" He replied. Stepping back he looked over the battlefield and waved his burning arm across it "Invocation override: Battle Erasing Mantra" he enunciated the words. The remains of their foes ignited with a blue flame, rapidly turning to dust. All damage inflicted on their surroundings was also quickly repaired in a burst of blue fire. Once it was done he flexed his hand, returning it to its normal state. He nodded towards Janna as he gathered his shirt and hoodie.

Janna knocked on the bubble "It's all clear" she nearly screamed at the girl within. Opening her eyes, the blonde slowly looked up to see Janna standing over her. The forcefield popped like a balloon, startling both Janna and the girl.

"They're gone?" she spoke softly.

"Yup." Marco announced as he zipped up his red jacket and moved to join the girls.

"Thank you" she clutched her wand even tighter, looking to be on the verge of tears.

"You mind telling us what that was all about?" Janna probed.

"I…My family…" the strange girl broke down crying, falling to her knees. Marco and Janna exchanged a wide eyed look in response.

With a heavy sigh Marco moved even closer, taking a knee and wrapping his arms around the girl "It's going to be alright" he shot a look up at Janna, clearly communicating that she should refrain from mentioning this. He continued to hold her for a while until she calmed down. "Feeling better?" he pulled away to arms length in order to look into her crystal blue eyes. She nodded and he let go, offering her a hand as he stood up. She cautiously took it and he pulled her to her feet. "So what just happened?" he began "who were those creatures and why were they after you?"

"I'm Princess Star Butterfly of Mewni." she stared at the ground as she spoke "We've been locked in a war with the forces of Toffee the Immortal for a long time. Today was my fourteenth birthday, the time for me to receive the royal wand." she shook the magic wand in her hands "The ceremony went off without a hitch but somehow monsters got into the castle. They waited for night to fall and everyone to leave before attacking. My father…" her breath hitched, she sounded as if she was about to cry again "My father ran to my room to make sure I escaped with the wand but…." she began to sniffle "he pushed me through the portal just as the monsters burst in. It closed behind me and then those monsters showed up and…" She held her head in her hands as she began to wail "he's dead. He was supposed to come after me and he died trying to save me. I can't do this. I'm not a warrior like him or my mom...I.." she was hyperventilating.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah there" Janna grabbed her "Everything will be alright. You don't know he's dead. You just need to calm down. Breathe"

Marco watched as his compatriot tried her hand at calming the princess. He had heard stories of other worlds, mostly from his parents, but never gave them much thought. He always had much more pressing supernatural matters in the form of understanding his own nature. Maybe his dad has a book on Mewni sitting in his office. He saw Janna motion for him to join her as she broke away from the girl. "Let me guess: no way home?" he asked quietly as he approached Janna a short distance from Star,

"Nailed it. But tell me, did you notice it?"

"Notice what?"

"Use your other eyes, dipshit"

Marco gave an exaggerated eye roll before activating his sensory powers, the whites of his eyes once again turning gold. He looked at Star and she lit up like the night sky on the fourth of July. He salivated at the sight, nearly drooling. Returning to his normal sight he responded to Janna "Alright. I see the case for keeping her. How should we handle it?" he crossed his arms.

"Didn't your family used to house exchange students? I'm pretty sure I can fake the paperwork, so you just need to help her settle in"

"You say that like you have the hard part." he retorted "I gotta teach a magical princess from another world about earth. Find her new clothes. Feed her."

"You can make her your famous nachos."

"Normal people can't survive off of nachos, Janna."

"Come on. It can't be that hard to learn how to cook."

"I know how to cook. You need to learn to though, i'm not doing it all on my own. We'll alternate days."

"Deal" Janna offered Marco her hand, he took it and they shook on it.


	2. Alexander of Macedonia

Janna returned home to work her forgery skills, leaving Marco to head back to his place with Princess Star in tow. Entering his abode, Marco spoke to his guest "My parents aren't around so you don't have to worry about that. You can have the spare bedroom across from mine."

"Okay." Star's voice was nearly a whisper "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It's no problem, princess" He replied with only the barest hint of sarcasm "We need to go over some ground rules first though."

"Oh, alright."

Her soft speech was wearing on Marco, there was just something about it that rubbed him the wrong way. "One, no one here is supposed to know about magic. Which means you don't tell anyone who you really are. You don't use your wand. And you certainly don't tell anyone about Janna and I."

"But I'm supposed to study…" her words trailed off.

"If you need to practice magic you can do that with us. Here. In private."

"No it's okay. I don't have my spellbook anyway." she responded dejectedly.

Marco sighed "My dad has some in his collection, we'll see if they work for you. Alright?"

"Mhm." Her face lit up slightly at the offer.

"Two. Never interrupt me and Janna when we're alone. Simple enough."

"Are you two, um… dating?"

"Not exactly" Marco rubbed his face, he was already second guessing taking the girl in "Look. Me and her are the only two of our kind in this town besides her mother, at least since my folks left. So we've always been close. We do a lot together but we aren't really dating."

"Oh." was all she replied.

"Which reminds me, three. Don't let anyone know my parents are gone. Four. When we bring back prey, don't interrupt us then either."

"Prey?"

Marco took a deep breath "So me and Janna aren't like everyone else around here. We're not human. A part of that is we need to feed on the magical energies of others. Since humans don't really use magic anymore there are only four people around who we can feed from: Alfonzo, Ferguson, Daron and Sabrina. Alfonzo and Ferguson got exposed to something strange when they were little and Sabrina has a strong family curse."

"And Daron?"

"Not a fucking clue. Can't figure it out for the life of me. But hey, not every question has an answer. It's something you learn to live with when you grow up around magic."

"Yeah" Star agreed "And me?"

He chuckled "You're smarter than you let on aren't you? But I guess that should be expected from a princess. Yeah, you have a lot of magical energy. More than all four of them combined. I hope you don't mind paying rent by letting us feed on you."

Star gulped in fear, but still stepped forward towards Marco "Of course. It would be rude of me not too, when you're being so hospitable" her words shook with nervous energy.

"You can relax, princess. I already fed today." he smiled at her, and she appeared to calm a slight bit "Let me show you to your room" he gestured for her to follow him. Arriving on the second floor of the house, Marco opened a door to the admittedly plain spare bedroom "My family used to house exchange students from around the world, but that was a long time ago now. This is where you'll be staying. I'll let you look around and get settled. We'll talk more in the morning." Marco turned to leave.

"Wait" Star called after him.

"What is it?" he asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

"I just wanted to say thank you again. You saved my life"

"No problem" Marco waved her off "See you in the morning".

Exiting the room, Marco closed the door behind him. Entering his own room he could sense something was off. Not even bothering to search he spoke to his visitor "I know you're there Daron. Come on out"

Sure enough a girl with short brown hair, red rimmed glasses and a slight overbite marked with braces popped out of his closet. "Hey Marco!" she wore a turquoise skirt, hot pink pants, one of Marco's hoodies and one of Janna's beanies.

"Doing that is going to get you hurt one of these days. Like seriously, what makes you think hiding in the bedrooms of two dangerous supernatural beings is a good idea?"

Daron looked hurt "I'm sorry. I just get so excited. Tomorrow is my day, right?"

"Most people wouldn't look forward to something like that" Marco couldn't help but smile at the girl's earnestness "But I'm not complaining. Come on" He cast off his hoodie and led Daron onto his bed.

* * *

"Really Diaz? I hope you two didn't keep the princess up all night." Janna chastised Marco as she pulled the covers off of him and Daron.

Marco looked over at the clock, it was barely half past five "Why are you here so gods damned early" he groaned. Daron shuffled about in her sleep, searching for a blanket but didn't wake.

"I'm here because I spent all night forging school transcripts and a birth certificate while you were apparently busy bumping uglies with our fangirl"

"Oh, is that jealousy I hear?" he teased Janna as he slowly climbed over Daron and off the bed "You never complained before, plus you love making forgeries."

"Yeah I love making forgeries, primarily for fun and profit and making these were neither. Besides, I usually get to join in on the activities. Or at least watch."

"Hey, she was waiting here for me when I got home last night. And if I recall you were the one who didn't want to call her over yesterday."

Janna fumed for a few seconds before giving her reply "Fair." her demeanor shifted back to normal in an instant "I just felt like giving you shit"

"I figured." Marco pulled a set of clean clothes from his closet "Let me get ready. Then we'll go over the details while I cook breakfast for our houseguests."

* * *

Heading down the stairs, Marco walked into the kitchen while still toweling off his hair. "So what's the plan Janna?"

"I started the process last night, but she won't be able to start classes till probably the beginning of next week. Plus we'll have to meet with the principal."

"Define "meet with the principal" for me"

"Easy, I shapeshift into your mother." Janna responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Weird" Marco responded slowly "But we gotta do what we gotta do." He tossed his towel into the sink and started getting out the toaster and cooking pans. "Toast, eggs and bacon sounds like a real breakfast right?"

"Do you even have those things?"

"I think so. They should still be good." He headed over to the fridge and began pulling things out "Sabrina likes to cook when she's over, not to mention I need to keep Mehen fed. So I pick up food every so often."

"She does?" Janna asked, more of herself than Marco.

"You tend to dip when she's around."

"Well yeah, she's one of Brittney's."

"I'd say she's more one of our's these days." Marco cracked a couple of eggs in a pan and began cooking.

"Please. She'd pick Brittney over us anyday."

"I wouldn't be so sure. A family curse can be quite the burden, especially one as nasty as hers. Our feedings lift that burden. She appreciates it. At this point I think she appreciates it more than she wants to be accepted by Brittney's lot." he flipped the eggs.

"Whatever you say Diaz. Speaking of food though, how are we going to handle the princess?"

"It's no big thing. She already knows, and she's fine with it." Marco paused in thought "More or less. I'll feed on Daron today when she gets up and you can feed on Star since you went without yesterday."

"Thanks. I swear, when I find those two greasy nerds. They better have a damn good excuse for going awol on me."

"I wouldn't be too worried. They are absolutely terrified of you, so they're probably already shitting themselves over it." Marco and Janna shared a hearty laugh. "You should go wake up the girls, breakfast will be done soon enough."

* * *

After giving Star a very stern "don't leave the house" lecture, the trio of Marco, Janna and Daron walked to school. It seemed the human girl had taken a shine to the princess and inundated Marco with questions about her for the entire walk. Despite the fact that most of his answers were some variation on "I don't know" it still managed to keep him distracted as Jackie Lynn Thomas passed by. Marco and Jackie have barely glanced at one another for the last several months. Most people had heard by this point that he asked her out and got rejected, but only Marco and Janna knew the real reason. Why she turned him down and why she started wearing a large turquoise choker which covered her entire neck.

"Hey" Janna elbowed Marco "I'll catch up in a bit" she didn't wait for a reply. Deep down Janna knew it was a long shot, but she had to try. "Hey Jackie" she walked up slowly.

"What do you want?" Jackie didn't bother looking.

"I know we're not cool anymore, but there's something I need to ask you." She waited for Jackie to reply, and when it was clear none was coming she sighed and continued "There's a girl named Star. She's not from around here, and once she starts coming to school she'll need friends. Hanging around me and Marco won't do her any favours so I was hoping…"

"Why should I care?" Jackie slammed her locker shut.

"Star's not like us. Any of us" Janna glared intensely at her former friend "She's sweet and innocent and going through some rough stuff right now. Please."

Jackie turned and started walking away. After a few steps she stopped "When you say not from around here."

"I mean she's a magical princess from another world on the run from an army of monsters."

"Really?" She turned back around to face Janna.

"Yeah. I don't know how long she'll be staying with us but I figure it'll be long enough."

"I'll think about it." she replied curtly

"That's all I can ask for." Janna smiled "See you around"

* * *

Alfonzo and Ferguson were still nowhere to be seen when the lunch hour rolled around, something that Marco and Janna noted but didn't think much of figuring they were just sick. Walking through the cafeteria, the pair exited the opposite side and ducked beneath the bleachers. Marco took out a red pouch marked with a black crown, and taking dried shimmering leaves from it he began rolling cigarettes for the two of them.

"So Daron seems pretty hype about Star" Janna comments

"Yeah, next thing you know she'll be dressing like the princess" Maro jokes, earning a slight snigger from Janna.

"I will say though, I was able to feed fully on her and she didn't even seem tired"

"Hopefully that means we'll be able to cut down on our amber smoking" he replied just as he finished rolling their smokes. Janna took one and they both lit up using a conjured flame from Marco. Blowing out a cloud of sparkling smoke he continued "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, shoot."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that yesterday you gave some lame excuse for not calling Daron. Then you were hassling me about her and Sabrina this morning."

"It's nothing" Janna remarked coldly.

"Don't be like that." he grabbed her hands and interlocked their fingers "We may have mutually nixed the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, but you're still my partner. Ride or die, number one. If there's a problem you can tell me. You take priority."

"It's fine, really." Janna pulled their still linked hands to her lips in order to place her cigarette in her mouth "Daron just weirds me out sometimes, and I guess some of my hate for Brittney rubs off on Sabrina. I got nothing really against them."

"Alright" he let go of her hands and placed his own cigarette between his lips "I don't want you feeling like you're second to them. You really are important to me."

"Thanks" Janna tossed down her smoke and crushed it with her foot. She then grabbed Marco by the collar, giving him just enough time to toss away his cigarette before their lips crashed into one another. They wrapped their arms around each other as they began making out, only to be interrupted by the untimely arrival of the cheerleading team.

"Ew. Do you really have to do that at school?" was how the cheer squad captain, Brittney Wong greeted them.

Without releasing their embrace, Marco and Janna turned to regard the unwanted guests. Brittney was at the front surrounded by her teammates. Sabrina was just barely visible in the back, looking as nervous as ever. "What don't appreciate the show?" Marco replied, reaching down and pinching Janna's ass.

"Ugh" Brittney whipped her hair "You two are the worst. I don't know why you haven't dropped out or been expelled"

"I'd sooner stay just to spite you" Janna retorted.

"Haha." she responded sarcastically "Seriously, you two should leave. No one wants you here. You should have taken the hint when Jackie dropped you losers"

Janna tightened her grip on Marco. Not that she was actually strong enough to restrain him, but she hoped it would ground him enough not to rise to Brittney's goading.

"Leave" Marco's voice was emotionless as he glared at the cheerleader. Janna could feel him shaking in anger.

"Fine. I don't want to waste any more time talking with you. Let's go squad." She strode off, the rest of the cheerleaders in tow. Sabrina spared an apologetic glance back as she passed.

Once they were gone Marco spoke again "I am going to ruin her."

"You're preaching to the choir." Janna replied "But it's not worth it. I know you're only this riled up because of the Jackie comment."

"I…" Marco knew she was right. He stopped and took a deep breath to compose himself "It just figures though, we were having such a sweet moment" he let go of her and she did the same.

"She'll get what's coming to her in time. For now we shouldn't let it get to us" she lightly jabbed Marco in the arm "Now let's get back before someone catches us"


	3. Caesarion

Marco stood in his father's office/atelier, something he did only rarely. He missed his parents and the empty workshop was a reminder of that. Of course the host of vaguely disturbing, half-finished sculptures and paintings which decorated the room also contributed to his general dislike visiting the place. The worst was whatever was under the tarp on his father's desk. Whenever Marco entered he could swear he could hear it beating like a heart. He's never managed to build up the courage to lift tarp, he's not even sure he ever wants to.

Today though, he came here with a purpose. Walking over to his father's bookshelf he ran a finger along the spines of the various texts that rested on its shelves. Most of them appear to be books on the fine arts, but as the works of his father prove: art and magic can be one and the same. Still he came here for proper spell books and the first he came across was "The King in Yellow". Once again something more art than magic but every occult library needs a copy. Moving down the shelves he pulled out a copy of the "Liber Ivonis": the first spell book he ever read himself. Even though it was a copy, the tome was still ice cold to the touch. Next he found a transcription of the "Celaeno Fragments", personally annotated by his grandfather. Lastly he added a rare printing of "Walkers of the Stars" to the stack. That was the book responsible for inspiring his signature flame-transmutation.

Lifting the three heavy volumes he gave the shape under the tarp one last look before exiting, making sure the door was closed behind him. Heading down and through the house he exited into the backyard where Star and Janna were. Star had conjured herself a more modern outfit, consisting of a teal sleeveless dress, sea-green and white striped leggings and a pair of pink boots. Marco nearly dropped the books he was carrying when he saw she was playing with Mehen.

"What are you doing?" He yelled. Star looked at him confused, the rainbow serpent still slithering over her shoulders.

"Calm down Diaz. It seems the snake likes her" Janna replied.

"That doesn't… it's still…" Marco stuttered in exasperation. The number of days he laid in bed suffering from the creature's hallucinogenic venom numbered far greater than he would like to admit. It was almost like the snake had it out for him, and here was Star just playing with it like a normal pet. "Nevermind. I got some spell books that might work for you." he placed the volumes on a picnic table.

"Thanks" Star jumped to her feet, snake still hung over her body, and walked over to the table. She ran a hand over the topmost book, "Walkers of the Stars", caressing it almost lovingly "It feels so different from my family's book of magic."

"Well it is Earth magic." Janna began "We won't know how compatible it will be with you and your wand until you give it a shot"

"Right." Star responded "I guess I should get to reading then. You have no idea how much this means to me. If I can master my wand" she held up the device and looked at it intensely. "Did you guys have a hard time learning magic?"

"Eh, not really, but most of what I do is an extension of our natural abilities. Janna knows more about conventional spells and rituals" Marco explained.

"So you two are more naturally magical" Star nodded slowly with her words.

"Basically." Janna hopped up on the table "Magically enhancing our bodies, shapeshifting and energy control all comes pre-packaged for our kind. Marco's better with large scale effects and I'm better with precise use, which crosses over to our spellcasting. He can do some crazy stuff but will probably never master scrying or healing magics."

"Oh I'm good at healing spells" Star shouted "Although I never tried scrying. I think here was a spell like that in the forbidden section of our spellbook.'

"That's weird. I mean, I can see the case with spying and all that but scrying and fortune telling are considered the fundamentals of magic on earth. That's about all that human mages can do in this day an age." Marco was befuddled, were they really that afraid of scrying magic?

"Speaking of scrying, it's friday and no one's seen hide nor hair of Alfonzo or Ferguson all week." Janna spoke in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"I didn't even know you cared like that" Marco teased.

"I don't, but if this goes much longer it might become a problem. If they turn up dead, someone will point the finger at us."

"That's fair. I'm guessing you don't have a crystal ball on hand though, do ya?"

"Nope. You mind helping a girl out?"

"No problem" Marco replied, rolling up is right sleeve. With a flourish his arm immolated, revealing his burning skeletal claw.

"What's that?" Star asked.

"It's a manifestation. A physical reflection of my power's growth" Marco responded as he plunged his claw into the dirt. With an exaggerated yank, he plucked what appeared to be a large hunk or red crystal from the earth "And this is another example of how I have more raw power, but Janna has finesse. I can make this crystal, but can't shape it for shit." he handed the stone to his companion. Placing it on the table Janna held one hand over it, the crystal slowly grinding itself down into a perfect, cloudy sphere.

"Now check this out" Janna motioned for Star to come closer "Invocation Existens: The Gate and the Key, grant me sight unseeing" the clouds within the sphere began roilling and undulating, flickers of light visible amongst them.

"It's like a storm" Star held her face close to the divination instrument. At this point Mehen slithered off of her and returned to his tree.

"Now let's see where those two idiots have been" Janna waved her hands around the crystal ball and the clouds began clearing. It showed the wooded area on the edge of town, but nothing else. Slowly a sickly green light began flooding the sphere. "Well that's not good." a buzzing could be heard from the sphere, which turned into a screeching as cracks formed across its surface.

"Get down" Marco jumped over and grabbed the two girls, shielding them with his body a second before the crystal violently exploded. He could feel the shards embed themselves in his back. "Sunnovabitch!" he groaned, rising back to his feet "What the hell was that?"

"Don't know" Janna rubbed her ears, trying to get the ringing to stop "But it's probably worth investigating."

"I agree" Marco strained. Reaching back, he plucked a long piece of crystal from his body. It was covered in glowing blue blood. "After I get all these crystals out"

"Let me help" Janna pulled him over an sat him on the bench in front of the picnic table. Pulling off his hoodie and shirt they heard a sheepish "eep" from Star. Turning to look a her, she had her eyes covered. Janna laughed "Feeling a little prudish there, princess?"

"It's not proper to just disrobe like that" She defended.

"Relax Star. It's not a big deal." Marco's speech was interrupted with a wince as Janna removed another shard "You'll have to get used to it though. I tend to fight shirtless"

Star stood there in silence for a moment, her eyes still covered. She took a deep breath and pulled her hands away. It was another moment before she finally opened her eyes.

"See, he ain't too bad on the eyes now is he?" Janna commented. Star was willing to admit she was right. If you ignored the fact that his back was currently covered in inhuman blood he was a very attractive young man.

"You're really muscular for someone our age" She spoke softly as a deep blush came over her face.

"It didn't come easy. Lots of martial arts training and fist fights, combined with prolonged use of magical enhancement. At this point I can nearly flip a car without needing to use any magic energy" It was clear Marco was bragging, and maybe even exaggerating a little. Star still seemed impressed, earning an eye roll from Janna.

"Done" Janna slapped Marco's back, causing him to wince again. "Now I need you to really, really hold still. Invocation Existens: Living Heaven, the infinite flesh. Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" black ooze seeped from her hands above his back, turning into glowing multi-coloured strings of energy as it made contact. With a gesture the strings began stitching his wounds shut. When they were done the threads of energy vanished, leaving no sign of the previous damage.

Marco stretched as he gathered his clothes "Ah. There we go. So princess, you ready to embark on a quest?"

* * *

By the time they had managed the hike to the edge of town night had fallen. Janna led the group into the treeline holding an orb of white electricity to illuminate the way. Star stood needlessly close to Marco while clutching her wand tightly. She was out of her element and knew it. As she said, she's not a warrior. Still, she resolved to do her best to help her new friends.

After a bit of walking Marco stopped the group "Now don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure we've passed that same tree like eight times." Immediately Star and Janna's eyes went wide as the examined their surroundings.

"Well fuck, I think you're right" Janna responded. She narrowed her eyes and dashed in the direction they had been moving, before appearing behind them and slamming into Marco.

"Oh no. What are we going to do?" Star asked nervously.

"Funnily enough, I think I know a spell perfect for this" Marco announced proudly.

"Really Diaz? It better not just be a spell to burn down the entire forest."

"While that was my first instinct, no. I honestly might be able to get us through this." he cleared his throat as he readied himself to cast "Invocation Override: Persistent Cactus" he waved his arms, pointing his palms outward.

"Persistent Cactus?" Janna said confused "What the hell is that supposed to do?"

"Just watch" Marco answer, continuing to hold out his hands. Suddenly a warbled boom emanated from nowhere and a black and green wave passed over them. Growths appeared rapidly on the surrounding plant life before bursting to reveal small plant monsters, each appearing like a cross between a cactus and its plant of origin.

"They're so cute!" Star ran over and attempted to pick one up, only to be pricked by the creature's spines "Ow."

"Yeah, I wouldn't go trying that again." Marco laughed a little at the princess "Hey little dudes, you mind showing us the way through?"

The numerous cacti creatures squeaked in agreement, sounding as if two dozen dog toys were squeezed in rapid succession. They fell into marching ranks and began walking off. The three began following the tiny plant monsters.

"How the hell did you do that?" Janna admonished her friend.

"Believe it or not that spell is super simple, it's literally just pouring a ton of magical power into plants until they pop"

"Okay, how are they guiding us though?"

"By talking to other plants. It serves to figure they would know what was going on and how to get around it."

"You know Diaz, sometimes I forget you're actually the smartest kid in school."

"Honestly, so do I" Marco and Janna giggle a bit at that. Star meanwhile had somehow convinced a number of the plants to climb up on her safely. Eventually they came to a small empty clearing with an obvious hole dug in the center, discarded shovels still laying nearby.

"What do you think happened?" Star walked up a bent over the mysterious hole.

"I don't know, but I think you should hold that pose a little longer." Marco snickered.

Janna sighed and smacked Marco in the chest, knocking some air out of him. "We didn't come here to stare at the princess's ass, that can wait till we get home." she walked over next to Star whose face had turned beet red from Janna's words. "So this was probably them, but why would they come dig up something out here."

"Here's another question: why is there a clearing here? I mean, look at it. There's barely even any grass."

"Didn't you say they were exposed to something weird when they were young?" Star mused.

"Yeah" Marco answered slowly.

"Do you know what it was? Maybe it was something physical and they buried it up here." She explained.

"Wasn't there a meteor shower when we were small?" Janna added.

"You don't think…" the gravity of the situation was dawning on Marco "Why would they have buried it? How would they have? And why come for it now?"

"Can you actually tell me what's happening?" Star sounded worried.

"If. and that's a big if." Janna started.

"The biggest if" Marco interrupted

"Yeah." Janna continued "If the something that seeded their magical energy came off a meteor, it greatly reduces the number of things it can be. None of which are good. I'd bet that all our feeding made their bodies used to expelling the energy, and when they came and got what was buried here some energy arced off of them like static electricity and activated it."

"How many things can it be?" Star was beginning to sweat in fear.

"One." Marco's voice was stern "Unearthly Cabochon. A splinter of infinity"

"The colour out of space" Janna finished his though "It must have been dormant. But why come for it now?"

"Doesn't matter. I don't know if we are actually prepared to face something like that, but we don't have a choice. It's been running free for a week. If it spreads to town we are up shit creek." Frustration welled up inside Marco.

"That scary huh?" Star's voice was so quiet she seemed on the brink of fainting.

"Worse" Janna responded "but at least we have a good idea of where it is" she pointed out past the clearing. They could see the tips of distant trees clawing at the sky and a faint glow near the ground.

Marco undid his hoodie and wrapped it around his waist before immolating his arm "Let's rock and roll" He shakily strode forward. Fear wouldn't stop him as he repeated in his head the same mantra that always pushed him onward: "Our kind were once Kings".


	4. Arcturus

The cacti monsters refused to travel any further, leaving Marco, Janna and Star to carry on alone. Thankfully it seemed that the spatial distortions were primarily around the perimeter, a defensive barrier used by the Colour. As they pressed on the plants around them grew grey and cancerous and even further ahead they could see abnormal flowers glowing dimly.

Star was growing increasingly fearful in response to the grim demeanour of her allies. In an attempt to relieve the pressure she decided to break the silence "So why does your arm transform like that?"

"Huh?" Marco turned to her "Oh. Well that's kinda a long story." he rubbed the back of his neck with his burning hand.

"Please?" Star put great emphasis on the lone word, stressing her need for some conversation.

"I'll take this one Diaz" Janna butt in "So you saw how our blood is that glowing blue stuff right?" Star nodded in response "that's the lifeblood, the source of our inhuman characteristics. As we use our powers we "flavour" the lifeblood within us, which goes on to saturate our bodies and change us. We call those manifestations. They are meant to help us use our powers more effectively."

"So my arm" Marco began "is like this because I use a lot of raw, unshaped power in order to create large scale effects, conjure elements and transmute substances. That's what this red "flame" is, allowing me to have a ready supply without needing to pull it from within."

"And my face" Janna moved close to Star as she activated her manifestation of a superimposed skull, causing the princess to scream and jump in terror. Janna began laughing hysterically at Star's reactions, having to fight through to finish her explanation "My face is...it improves my awareness. It's almost like having two sets of eyes and ears, and another mouth allowing me to do this"

"This" a second voice spoke simultaneously with Janna. "This way" she continued speaking in two voices "I can actually use multiple spells if I so choose."

"We both have a few other manifestations but these are the ones that we use most often." Marco added.

"What are some of your other manifestations?" Star was genuinely interested, even if Janna scared the hell out of her a moment ago.

"I got a couple more eyes, but not the seeing kind, and a pretty rockin horn." Marco replied.

"My limbs and digits elongate to creepy levels which also makes me like triple jointed. And I have a bunch of weird holes all over my body. They kinda look like honeycombs but flesh." Janna said the last bit in a sultry tone as she waggled her eyebrows.

Not wanting to dwell on why Janna decided to use that particular tone of voice, Star continued her line of questioning "What do you mean not the seeing kind of eyes? Isn't that what eyes are for?"

"They're sensors of sorts, and tools for manipulating more complex elements. I've never gotten comfortable with using them, a whole new set of senses can be disorientating. I guess if I was able to use them for prolonged periods I might acclimate but…"

"You're shitting me." Janna exclaimed, stealing Marco and Star's attention. They found themselves at what appeared to be the entrance of an empty mine. The boards that once sealed the passage were broken and splintered, the ground around around it was crystalised.

"Well that just figures. Star?" Marco turned to face the princess "You're gonna need to stay up here."

"What!? Why?" her voice exploded in panic.

"I don't know how your mind will handle the Colour." he placed one hand on her shoulder "It's safer for you up here. I promise we'll be back for you."

"Are you sure I can't help?" Star was still clearly anxious.

"Maybe you can, but it's not worth the risk. Don't worry, we'll be fine on our own." he tried to reassure her with a friendly smile but even Star could tell it was forced.

"Alright." She sat down next to the entrance "I'll wait"

Marco and Janna shared one last worried glance before heading down into the mineshaft together. Janna's electricity illuminated the crystalline tunnel, making visible the shifting geometries within the surface. The dizzying display added to the discomforting atmosphere and detracting from the duo's balance. Stumbling their way deeper they remained in silence.

Slowly though, the shimmering stonework grew luminous. The earth groaned and wretched around them.

"Well at least we'll have light to fight by, right?" Marco remarked.

"I don't know how much fighting we'll be able to accomplish. What are the actual odds of us even being able to harm one of these things?" Janna replied dourly.

"Ehh, I'd say 50/50. Some kind of energy must be able to effect it."

"You really know how to make a girl feel safe dontcha Diaz?"

"You're not the kind to be appeased by a comfortable lie."

"No, but I would appreciate you trying once in a while" Janna continued to lead them, until they came across the reason for their search. They found a ghostly pale Alfonzo and Ferguson curled up around a medium sized chunk of stone, a scintillating smoke emitting from its porous surface. The aberrantly chromatic substance bubbled and billowed in stilted, jerky movements. Upon their arrival it began whorling into a large cloud. Tendrils seeped out of the cloud and stabbed into the ground, causing the patterns in the crystal to begin flashing and moving at incredible speeds.

"Shit, looks like I might need those eyes after all." Marco strained as the light physically overwhelmed him.

"You mind hurrying that along then?" Jann fell to her knees, clutching her face. Marco fought the light as he attempted to focus. Irregular black lines extended from his eyes and small golden eyes formed along them: one below each eye and one above. A final seventh eye appeared on his forehead and together all seven began projecting a glimmering light. He clutched at the ground with his burning claw as he fought to counteract the work of the Colour.

Struggling against the eldritch light Janna fired bullets of air in an effort to dissipate the Colour. Her shots failed to disturb her target in the least. "Any ideas?"

"Kinda busy keeping this thing from… whatever that light is doing to us." Marco responded "I'm not sure what this is but my photokinesis is barely holding up"

"Roaring Rainbow Rage!" a kaleidoscopic deluge of intense prismatic light tore through the chamber, the Colour releasing a hissing cry in response. The flashing light faded enough for Marco and Janna to recover, turning to find Star standing there with a wide eyed stare grasping a still smoking wand.

"Are you kidding me?" Marco panted.

"I'm so sorry" Star's face immediately returned to a more shy expression "I just got so worried waiting and I…"

"We're not complaining. Now hit it again before it has a chance to act." Janna assured her.

"Oh, right. Ummm…. Strawberry Annihilation!" Star pointed her wand at the wispy entity and fired a pinkish-red blast marked with seeds like a strawberry. It exploded in front of the being causing it to discorporate further.

"Let's see how it likes this" Marco stood and held his flaming hand in front of his face. Focusing, he flooded the chamber with his own light which rapidly shifted through the colour spectrum. The remaining corporeal manifestation of the Colour began retreating into the stone from whence it came.

Seizing the opportunity, Janna leapt forward and grabbed the meteor. Focusing her power into it, the rock began to vibrate and crack before crumbling in her hands. "Finish it off" she called out.

"Glowworm blast!" Star shouted, firing off a barrage of massive glow worms that exploded into neon blue light, shattering the surrounding crystal and evaporating what was left of the colour. Soon the only light in the room was from Marco's eyes.

"You saved the day princess" he walked up and patted her on the back.

"Wow." Janna laughed "I'm surprised you didn't give her a congratulatory ass slap."

"Funnily enough that was my intention, but I thought better of it last second" Marco giggled. He watched as Star once more began to blush, something he was beginning to find quite cute. Just as silence began setting in the tunnel began to quake.

"Um, I think we need to hurry" Star was already past the previous comment. The imminent threat of a mine collapsing around you can have that kind of effect.

"Nah, we'll be fine." Marco returned his face and eyes to normal and placed his hand on the nearest wall. The rumbling gradually calmed. "Large scale effects. Remember?"

"Now what are we going to do with these two dumbasses?" Janna kicked the comatose Ferguson.

"Are they dead?" Star asked quietly.

"Nope. Just broken." Marco walked over to them, heaving each over one shoulder "Can't you do psychosurgery Janna?"

"If I had my mom's copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts, but it's off limits after the invisible shoggoth incident."

Marco burst out laughing, and continued to laugh for an abnormally long time. When he eventually stopped he had to wipe tears from his eyes "Oh man, that was… whoo. Good times"

"What's a shoggoth?" Star innocently inquired, receiving looks of disbelief from her companions.

"A bad decision is what it was" Janna glared at Marco "and you know it had to real bad for me to admit it."

"I don't know about bad." Marco rolled his eyes "I had fun. Either way, we can't leave these two like this."

"Ummm" Star raised her hand "I might be able to use a cleansing spell."

"Alright, let me ask you this. Didn't you say that you just get your wand? How do you know all this magic?" Janna aggressively approached the princess.

"I just studied a lot growing up, and I made up those spells I just cast too!" She responded in a hurry, stumbling over her words.

Janna continued her threatening stride until she was nearly nose to nose with the princess before calmly replying "Okay." and began heading for the exit at a leisurely pace. Marco gestured with his head for Star to go first and the three made their way out of the mine.

* * *

Marco unceremoniously dropped the two unconscious nerds onto his living room floor. Morning was fast approaching and they all wanted this over and done with. Janna laid across the couch as Star kneeled at the heads of the Colours victims. Taking a deep breath she held her wand out above them and began castling softly under her breath. A thin transparent orange sheet extended from the wand and lowered onto them. "Done" she announced and stood up.

"That's it?" Janna looked at her confused.

"The healing will take some time to set in. If they are going to recover they'll do so by the time we awake."

"Good enough for me" Marco headed for the stairs "Sleep time now".

"Carry me" Janna whined, waving her arms in the air.

"Just sleep on the couch if you're too lazy to come to bed" Marco yawned and wiped his eyes..

"Nooo. carry me"

"Ugh. Fine." Marco grabbed Janna, throwing her over his shoulder like a caveman.

"Yay" she responded as they headed up the stairs "Night, Star.' she nodded at the princess behind them as they entered the bedroom. Tossing her on the bed, Marco purposefully crashed next to her. As the two settled into cuddling Janna spoke "One week living with a princess and you're going soft on me Diaz"

"No I'm not"

"When have you ever gave into my whining? Or tried to have big emotional talks? Hell, I'm surprised you didn't just leave Alfonzo and Ferguson at the mine entrance and collapse it on them."

"Maybe I've always been soft and I needed someone like Star to remind me." he mused.

"Good, sometimes I miss the sweet boy I originally teamed up with" she cooed.

"Really? That doesn't sound like you."

"It's just sometimes. I remember when I could make you blush like I've been doing to Star."

"I was a dweeb"

"My dweeb."

"Is that why you keep those two around?"

"Ha!" Janna snorted "Even if you were a human you'd probably still be worth ten of them."

"Careful there Janna. You're getting dangerously close to girlfriend talk."

"I'm just saying" She nuzzled in the crook of his neck "Jackie doesn't know what she's missing."

"I guess." Marco sighed.

"I know what she said hurt you, but I want you to get past it." Janna rolled over and cupped his face with one hand "Please. For me if you can't do it for yourself."

"Real talky for a girl too tired to walk up the stairs herself."

"Yeah well, near death experiences tend to make you think about these kind of things."

"I'm not sure that was a near death experience. Of course, I have no idea what that was at all really."

"It doesn't matter. Just try, okay?" Janna leaned in and kissed him before rolling back over "Goodnight Diaz"

"Goodnight Janna"

* * *

"You two idiots better have a damn good explanation ready!" Janna shouted, shocking Alfonzo and Ferguson from their sleep. Their confusion was evident as their heads swiveled around, realizing they were in Marco's house.

"What happened?" Alfonzo's fear stricken face locked onto the pair sitting on the couch, Marco and Janna.

"What happened was you two went and dug up a meteorite with a dangerous entity inside and released it. You're lucky we found you both when we did" Marco growled "If it had gone on any longer the entire town would have been in danger."

"Meteor?" Ferguson asked, his eyes slowly going wide as he began remembering.

"Yeah, a meteor. What in the world possessed you to go dig it up?" Janna scolded the nerds.

"Well.. you see… I… I mean we… we…" Ferguson was nearly hyperventilating.

"We thought we could use it to get real powers" Alfonzo shouted.

"Dude!" Ferguson turned to him.

"Sorry. I don't do too well with stress"

"Why is everyone shouting?" Star asked as she walked down the stairs, still dressed in pajamas "Oh, you two are awake. That's good" she covered her mouth as she yawned.

"Who are you?" Alfonzo and Ferguson asked in near unison.

"That is none of your business." Marco interjected "Now would you care to explain why you were trying to get real powers?"

"We're just getting tired of everyone bullying us." Ferguson explained.

"Guys, look. Magic is dangerous, especially for those who don't understand it. You tried to take a shortcut in improving your lives and nearly got yourselves killed. No more messing with magic. If you want to overcome your problems you'll have to do it the hard way" Marco admonished the two "Now get out of my house and go home"


	5. Charlemagne

The time had come for Star's first day at Echo Creek academy. Marco currently sat at the back of miss Skullnick's class asleep on his desk, waiting for Star and Janna to arrive. They were still in a meeting with the schools principal, Janna disguised as Marco's mother. That was a situation he was happy to have escaped, though if asked why he would tell you it was boring. Which it was, but worse was the ill feeling he had hearing Janna referred to as . She may have been disguised as his mom, but he still knew it was her and boy did it make him uncomfortable.

He was awoken from his early morning nap when the typical din of the classroom increased in volume. Raising his head, he saw Star being introduced. While the class was distracted, Janna, no longer shapeshifted, slipped in through the window and took her seat beside Marco. "What did I miss?" She whispered to him.

"No clue, just woke up" Marco watched the class react to the princesses arrival. Most had the typical adolescent disinterest plastered on their faces, and those that did react were the expected ones: Alfozno and Ferguson seemed ever so slightly frightened of her, and Daron was incredibly excited and happy to see her. Two others, however were individuals he did not expect immediate reactions from. First, he couldn't help but notice a flicker of emotion from Brittney. It amused him. Maybe a literal princess could take her down a peg or two. The reaction that surprised him even more was Jackie's. Unaware of her and Janna's discussion, he was taken aback when she offered Star the empty seat beside her. He looked over to Janna who gave him a shrug in response.

* * *

The school day passed without much incident, thanks to the combined efforts of Alfonzo, Ferguson and Jackie all of whom did their best to help Star. Admittedly the former two did so under duress, but Marco and Janna figured whatever works. In the after school hour Marco made his way through the building towards Sabrina's locker. Sure enough she was standing there, looking her typical anxious self. "Hey there" he called out.

"Oh hey, there you are." She answered.

"I don't know why you're always so nervous with me, I don't bite. At least not while feeding" He grinned as he leaned against her locker.

"It's not that" she replied, looking around suspiciously "It's um, about Star."

"What about her?"

"She's staying with you right? Is she… you know, like you?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Right, you haven't come over since she arrived. She's not. Star's a different kind of magical being."

"Oh. Well I wanted to tell you that Brittney already doesn't like her'"

"I figured' Marco nodded.

"No, she REALLY doesn't like her. I don't know what it is, but I'll try to keep an eye out for you."

"Thanks Sabrina, that actually means a lot." Marco took a breath to punctuate his sentence before swiftly grabbing her throat and pinning her to the locker. Energy slowly flowed into Marco from where their skin made contact. Sabrina was soon a quivering mess, the sign for him to let go. Sabrina leaned exaggeratedly on the lockers, gasping for air. "You should come over sometime this week, you can get to know Star. I'm sure you two will get along."

"I'll try" she replied weakly, a small smile on her face.

"Alright, catch you around" Marco turned and left. As he navigated the empty school hallways he was in an unusually good mood. Just knowing that Star elicited a reaction from Brittney made this entire endeavor worth it. His good mood was unfortunately fated to be short lived as he turned to the corner to find Star chatting with his second least favourite individual in the school, Oskar Greason. Now Marco would admit he himself was not the best person, but at least he wasn't a sleaze. "Hey greaseball" Marco snarled "Back off" he quickly closed the distance, perhaps a little faster than a human could have, and placed himself between Oskar and Star.

"Chill out dude, I didn't do anything."

"Don't care." Marco shook his head "I don't want to see you within ten feet of Star"

"Oh come on. What, you couldn't have Jackie so now the next…" Oskar was interrupted by a hard punch to the gut, causing him to double over.

Grabbing the other delinquent's hair, Marco pulled Oskar to look im in the eyes "Ten. Feet." he released Oskar's hair and turned to Star "Let's go"

Star looked on wide eyed. She had heard some of the other students make comments about Marco over the course of the day, but he was her friend. She never expected to see him act like this. "Okay" she responded. Confrontation was not in her nature, so she simply did as she was told and followed him out of the school to meet up with Janna.

* * *

Janna sat next to Marco's discarded hoodie and t-shirt on the picnic table in his backyard rolling a cigarette. She watched as Marco began Star's "training", which at this point consisted of him running around hurling wheels of fire at her while she repeatedly failed to perform the elder sign invocation to protect herself. Meaning she was rapidly alternating between getting singed and dodging into the dirt. It took all of Janna's self control not to laugh at the princess's misfortune.

"You can do better than that princess!" Marco taunted. He loved fighting, even more so than was typical for his kind. Maybe he was getting carried away, but he honestly didn't care.

"Can we stop" she pleaded, clutching her tattered dress with one arm "I'm clearly not able to do this"

"The Elder Sign is the foundation of defensive magics, even I can use it." Marco continued to circle her "Those monsters are still after you and, since you're insistent that you aren't a fighter, you will need to master it in order to protect yourself."

"Please, can we at least take a break? I can't keep going on like this" She put on her best puppy dog eyes.

"Already?" Marco looked over to Janna, who was in the process of lighting her cigarette off of a stray fire he had set "Fine" he walked over to the picnic table, stamping out a small flame on the way.

Star breathed a sigh of relief, taking a seat on the ground next to the small multi-coloured tree. Mehen, the young rainbow serpent, slithered from its resting place within the tree to join the princess. "Hey" Star greeted the creature while petting its head "Marco's such a meanie isn't he?" she spoke quietly "you know he beat up a boy jus for talking to me?"

"He did?" Janna asked from right behind Star, starling her.

"Ah!" She leapt from her spot, Mehen jumping off of her and slithering away.

"Janna, stop messing with her" Marco chided from his seat on the bench.

Janna rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore him "Who was it?" she asked.

"Umm, I think his name was Oskar?"

"Again?!" Janna laughed "Marco, did you really beat up Oskar again?"

"I only punched him once!" he defended himself.

"You've beat up Oskar before?"

"Yeah, I have. That wannabe rocker has a bad habit of bothering girls, I've had to chase him off from both Daron and Sabrina." Marco responded sternly.

"No sarcasm, him kicking Oskar's ass is one of the few occasions of him not actively looking for a fight. The dude had it coming." Janna explained.

"Oh." Star spoke softly "You know, I heard a lot of people talk about you two."

"I bet, me and Marco have a hell of a reputation. I can't wait to hear which ones you were told." Janna nearly bounced with excitement, grabbing onto Star's shoulders from behind.

"There was one I wanted to ask about." Star mumbled "About Jackie." Marco silently stood up and walked back into the house, slamming the door behind him. Star worriedly turned to look at Janna "I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright Star. You had no way of knowing." Janna took a deep breath "It's a long story, and most of it isn't mine to tell. The short version is that Marco's had a crush on her since we were little, and when he finally got the courage to ask her out she broke his heart. It was more than your typical teenage drama though, but if you want to know about that you'll have to ask them and neither want to even think about it"

"Should I go apologize?" Star grimaced

"Nah. Just let him cool down, I'll talk to him later." she reassured Star.

"Alright." Star sat back down.

"Do you have a crush?" Janna sat beside her.

"No. Well, kinda" Star shrugged "I only really see him at royal functions."

"Tell me about him." she urged the princess

"His name is Tom. He's the prince of the underworld."

"Like a demon?" Janna sounded strangely interested.

"Yeah. He's so regal and handsome. The perfect image of a prince."

"No kidding. Why haven't you asked him out?"

"What? No. I couldn't."

"Why not? If you like this guy so much why not go for it?"

"I could never" Star twirled her hair "What about you?"

"Me? I'm too busy for anything like that" Janna waved her off.

"What about Marco? I know he said you two weren't together but…"

"That's complicated. We both decided it would be better to be just friends, obsensibly to keep things uncomplicated." Janna chuckled "He's my best friend, I know we'll always be together. Whether we're in an "official" relationship or not, it doesn't change a thing."

"Is that why you let him… you know, with other girls?"

"Like Daron and Sabrina? I get in on that action too. The only one that would have challenged what me and Marco have was Jackie, but I had plans for that. I didn't want things to go the way they did, I care too much about him and Jackie was my friend too. Like I said, it's complicated." Janna sighed. "Come on, let's go inside" she stood up and dusted herself off. Star stood up to join her when they were interrupted by the sound of glass shattering.

A shirtless Marco, arm set ablaze, was falling through the second floor window. He landed hard on his back, the thud accompanied by a gasp as the air was knocked from his lungs. "Marco!" the two girls shouted in unison as they rushed to his side.

"Watch out" he forced out the words. Looking up they saw a figure leaping from the window, stabbing down with a long sword. In a panic Star held up her wand and conjured an amber shield marked by a six pointed branch. The assailant slammed into the barrier and bounced off, rolling into the grass.

"Oh my god, I did it!" Star cheered, nearly leaping for joy.

"Not the time for celebrating princess" Marco grunted, returning to his feet "We have an enemy in front of us." Striking a fighting pose alongside Janna, they stared down their opponent: an aquamarine bush-like creature weilding a sword.

"Wait… Kelly?" Star charged forward to block off the combatants "Stop!"

"Star, get out of the way!" both Marco and Kelly shouted, which confused the two of them.

"No, you're all my friends. Kelly what are you doing here?" Star turned to the new arrival.

"I followed some of Toffee's men, he's sent a group of assassins to get you and the wand."

"Then why did you attack me?!" Marco bellowed.

"So you're not keeping Star captive?" Kelly continued to grip her sword tightly.

"No, Kelly. They're not. Why would you think that?" Star asked.

"Well then why are you still here? Don't you have a pair of dimensional scissors?"

"No. Do you?" Star responded hopefully.

"No. I snuck through one of the assassin's portals." Kelly answered sheepishly "My bad."

"It's okay. Where do I have to go anyway." Star looked down, clearly disappointed.

"Wait." Marco interrupted "You came through one of the assassin's portals? And then tracked down Star and came here? Are you stupid?"

"Stupid enough" they heard a new voice chime in. Turning towards the voice, they were greeted by the visage of purple-cloaked lizard man with a frilled neck and spiked shoulders.

"Oops" Kelly apologized.

"Just keep Star safe, We'll handle this chump." Janna cockily added.

"Damn straight." Marco cracked his knuckles.

"Nice bravado in front of the ladies there kid, but you're in no shape to fight." The reptilian monster walked forward "Now why don't you all step aside and let me take the princess."

"Fat chance, Valusian" Janna jeered, snapping her fingers and firing a barrage of air bullets. They tore through her enemy, but his hole riddled chest quickly regenerated.

"I'm not Valusian. I'm a Septarian" He lunged forward and grabbed Janna, lifting her up with one hand.

"I don't care what you are, hands off" Marco charged the Septarian, delivering a literally explosive punch with his burning fist. His target was knocked clear across the yard, dropping Janna.

"Watch it, Diaz." She rubbed her head "you almost blew me up"

"Quit whining, he's not down yet." Marco walked over and pulled her to her feet. The duo turned to watch the rising reptile man. "Any plans for dealing with a regenerator?"

"No, but a lizard is a lizard." she nodded at him.

"Good call" Marco summoned up his extra eyes.

Their enemy was already heading back towards them "I gotta say, I didn't expect any magical resistance. I thought magic was dead in this dimension."

"There's still a few stragglers like us kicking around." Marco's breath was visible "but there's about to be one less… what did you call yourself?"

"I'm Rasticore of the Septarians. Assassin in service to Toffee the Immortal, and while I like your spirit I don't plan on dying to a couple of kids" He pulled a massive chainsaw out from under his cloak an began revving it up as he continued his advance.

"Too bad" Marco held out his hands "Y'all might want to get inside" Janna ran and grabbed Kelly and Star, dragging them into the house. Focusing his power through his additional eyes, Marco stared down Rasticore. As the septarian assassin lifted the running chainsaw above is head and began to charge, Marco release his power. A wave of energy emanated from him, flash freezing the yard. A crack like thunder resounded from the ground and trees.

"Nice try" Rasticore dropped the now non-functional chainsaw, the blade of which shattered when it hit the ground "Did you really think a cold-blooded creature who travels the multiverse wouldn't have protection from cold temperatures?"

"Yeah, I did" Marco looked over at Mehen. The rainbow serpents were magical creatures who hailed from unbearably cold climates. "Looks like I'll just have to try harder" reaching deep into himself, he pulled as much as he could from his inner well of power. He imagined the freezing home of the serpents, channeling everything he has through his thermo-sensitive extra eyes. Letting loose the gathered energy he pulled the temperature down to an unimaginable level localized in his immediate vicinity. Frost spontaneously formed as any water within his surroundings froze, wood splintered and the ground cracked. A skintight barrier of purple energy became visible around the rapidly slowing Rasticore as his protective enchantment began to fail. "Hey scale face, do you know what would happen if I let go of my focus?" Rasticore looked at him quizzically "I'll give you a hint, it's called explosive normalization"

Marco released his thermokinetic hold, allowing the air around him to rapidly normalise to the california heat that surrounded them. With a sound that can only be described as the world's loudest balloon popping, the yard was subject to an incredible pressure wave. Marco never saw what happened to his opponent, having been knocked out by the wave himself. When he finally came to he was met with the disapproving glare of Janna.

"Did I win?" he coughed.

"Yeah. You killed the lizard man. You also destroyed the picnic table and shed. If Mehen and his tree weren't as magical as they are you would have destroyed them too. I'm surprised you survived honestly. Don't ever do something that stupid ever again" She berated him.

Struggling to his feet, Marco replied "A win's a win." he stretched his arms "Plus now I have no excuse for skipping al the yard work I've been needing to do." his laugh was interrupted by another cough.

Janna slapped him "You scared me you idiot"

"I'm sorry." He smiled warmly at her "I promise not to do something like that again."

"Good." Janna huffed "Now we gotta figure out what to do with bush girl."

"Another stray for the collection?" Marco quipped.

"Ugh. I don't want to fake any more paperwork."

"It's alright, she doesn't seem the school type anyhow."

"I swear, the next interdimensional refugee is someone else's problem."

"I have the odd feeling that's not how it's going to turn out."


	6. Nuada Silver Hand

Kelly's sword sliced through Marco's chest, leaving a light cut across it. She had insisted in assisting with Star's training and in the process Marco had found someone who loves fighting almost as much as he does. It was quickly becoming a matter of concern for both Janna and Star, as Kelly and Marco tended to get carried away and seriously harm one another. Tonight was no different and the two of them were already beaten and bloody. The week had come and gone without much of note, and the group had a hangout planned. Sabrina and Daron were both expected soon, far too soon for the two bruisers to be healed in time to greet them. Not that either of them cared, being as caught up in their brawl as they were.

"Are they still at it?" Janna exited into the yard and took a seat beside Star.

"Yeah" Star let out a heavy sigh "I didn't even manage to figure out the movement spell I was supposed to be practicing today before they started going at it"

"I wouldn't have thought you had friends like that" Janna nudged Star with her elbow.

"I met her through my friend princess Ponyhead. Kelly's usually one of the more chill and responsible of us, which is why we got along so well. I knew she was a professional adventurer, and even did some gladiatorial combat on the side. I didn't know she was a combat freak like this though." Star had always been insecure about how she was a non-combatant from a family of warriors, and it was only getting worse as she spent time around her friends. How was it that she was the only one not always up for a fight.

"I guess it's not a problem if there's only one of them. Put two like them together and it's a recipe for disaster." Janna feigned a laugh. Suddenly she felt her phone go off, a call from Sabrina. She answered it "Hey, you on your way?"

Star watched as Janna's face grew a mischievous cheshire smile. It unnerved her. She couldn't tell what the other person was saying, but she had a bad feeling about it.

"We'll be there" Janna replied and hung up the call before whipping the phone full force into the side of Marco's head.

"Agh! Janna what the hell?" he turned to see her devilish grin.

"New plans: Sabrina called. Brittney's throwing a house party for her birthday tonight."

Marco's lips curled into a matching countenance "What are we waiting for then? We have a party to crash"

* * *

Star was severely uncomfortable. Not only did she not want to show up to a party uninvited, but her companions: Marco, Janna, Kelly and Daron had already polished off one bottle of tequila and started on another (both "borrowed" from his father's liquor cabinet) before they even got to their destination. At least they dressed up for the occasion, a princess should always look her best after all and that was a rule that extended to the company she kept. Marco wore a dark red button up tucked into a pair of black jeans and a unbuttoned grey vest. Janna was dressed in a black military style collared shirt adorned with numerous pins and patches for an eclectic selection of bands, numerous bracelets and armlets most of which were spiked and a her usual beanie. Kelly had borrowed some of Janna's clothes and wore a red plaid skirt and a black leather jacket with numerous superfluous zippers and spiked shoulders. Daron had on a red dress and black jacket, meaning that Star was the only one who didn't match. Her magenta skirt and pink dress shirt made her stick out like a sore thumb amongst them.

"Sure you don't wanna drink before the party, Star? You seem nervous." Janna shouted to the princess.

"No. I'm fine" she replied in a slightly higher than usual voice indicating clearly that, no, she was not fine.

"Suit yourself princess" Marco jeered, knocking back a long swig from the tequila bottle before handing it to Kelly who took an even longer swig, eliciting a laugh from Daron who snatched the bottle and attempted to out do them both only to choke halfway through. The entire group erupted into laughter, still unaware of Star's discomfort.

They could hear the party before they saw the house, and as they approached Sabrina appeared to greet them. The nervous girl was likewise dressed up in a green-ish dress with blue and purple frills. "Hey" she greeted them with a shaky voice.

"Sabrina!" Daron shouted and ran over to the other girl, nearly finished tequila bottle in hand, and hugged her.

"Um, it's nice to see you?" she responded before smelling the tequila on her friends "Oh no. You guys aren't already drunk are you?"

"We're not" Janna motioned to herself, Marco and Kelly "but she is. Human constitution and whatnot"

"Why don't you finish off that bottle" Marco nodded at Sabrina "Help with your nerves."

"I…" Sabrina looked at Daron who was waving the bottle at her. She remained still in thought before suddenly snatching the bottle and chugging at least 4-5 shots worth. "Haaa…" she let out an exaggerated breath "Let's go" she led the troupe through the gangway and into the backyard, entering the house through the backdoor.

Sliding through the gathered crowd of teenagers, Marco and the others split up in that way you do at parties. They inserted themselves into various groups, joined conversations and filled red solo cups with spiked punch. Of course the punch wasn't spiked when they arrived, that was courtesy of Janna with a flask of rum (an alcohol whose taste is more easily overpowered than that of tequila). It did not take long for the party to escalate to cacophonous heights with the arrival of the rowdier crowd. Overwhelmed, Star eventually extricated herself from the event.

Walking across the backyard, Star was deep in introspection "I don't belong here" she thought aloud "I don't belong anywhere. I have no kingdom, I'm no warrior, I'm hardly even a princess. They can get on fine without me." she wiped the beginnings of tears from her eyes.

"You do have somewhere you belong" a voice Star recognized spoke from behind her. Turning around she was greeted by the last person she expected to see.

"Tom?" she gasped in surprise.

"Hey Star." the demon boy greeted her, dressed in a white suit and red collared shirt.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you home." he smiled, showing his many sharp teeth.

"Home? But the Butterfly Kingdom fell."

"I mean, I'll take you to the underworld. Your parents took sanctuary with us after they escaped the monsters. They're waiting for you." he held out his hand for her to take.

Star was silently weeping tears of joy at the news. Just as she reached out to take his hand another voice called out.

"Is that why you're here with a platoon of monsters?" Marco's voice was harsh and his words were slightly slurred.

"What's he talking about?" Star began backing away.

"You need to come with me, Starship" his words were curt and strained, spoken through gritted teeth.

"I don't think she's going anywhere with you" Marco had his collared shirt untucked and unbuttoned, his sleeves rolled up. He held out his arm and let it immolate as he stared down the young prince.

"You need to stay out of this earthling" Tom shouted, his eyes taking on a demonic glow.

Stumbling forward Marco retorted "Where's the fun in that?"

Tom hurled a fireball at Marco who dodged to the side. Rushing in close Marco opened with a swipe from his burning claw, blocked by a conjured axe. Igniting his axe, Tom took hard swings with skill and care belied by his apparent rage. Marco continued to evade when he could, alternatively blocking with his skeletal appendage. Tom waved his hand, calling forth spikes of stone from the ground. Slamming his energized claw on the ground, Marco's own geokinetic capabilities overpowered Tom's.

Star was crushed. For the first time since coming to earth she honestly believed things would get better, and now that was torn away from her. She just wanted to collapse and cry, just curl up on the ground and die. Instead she stood in stunned silence and watched the battle unfold in front of her. The demon prince of the underworld displayed the exceptional combat prowess one would expect from someone of his stature. The fact that Marco was keeping pace was testament to his own power and skill. It then struck Star that Marco was hammered, or at least halfway there. She still had no idea what he or Janna truly were. It was frightening now that she thought about it, but he was still willing to fight tooth and nail for her. What he was, was her friend.

Marco was annoyed in his buzzed state. He attempted to use his typical stratagem and it was rapidly backfiring. They were surrounded by blades of fiery grass, and Tom's axe was likewise transmuted to a fire construct but the demon had no difficulty wielding it. It would seem is opponent was fireproof on a conceptual level, which meant he needed to formulate a new plan. Even in his booze-addled state he knew that most of his attacks would endanger Star. He decided there was only one recourse and called out his third manifestation. A single slim gunmetal horn grew from above his right eye, accompanied by several small spikes near its base.

"What's that supposed to be?" Tom laughed at Marco, who simply ran a burning claw along the horn in the way one would swipe hair out of their eye. As he did energy crackled and sparked, and even Star could feel the rapid shift in air pressure.

"A true King commands their entire realm as lesser rulers command men. So little prince, are you ready to see what a real king can do?" a shit-eating grin was plastered across Marco's face. Tom berated him in a rage but Marco was shutting out any distractions. His most complex capability, the one that took the most focus and power, the one that held the most destructive potential could also be his most precise. Clouds seized control of the sky above them and static electricity filled the air, enough to interfere with nearby electronics. As Tom bore down on him, Marco brought all he could into a single concentrated strike. A single superbolt, more x-ray energy than electrical, reached down from the sky and engulfed Tom. The light was bright enough and the thunder loud enough to temporarily blind and deafen both Star and Marco.

As his vision cleared, Marco made his way over to the princess. She was shouting something at him but his hearing had yet to recover. Star ran at him as fast as she could and knocked him aside, Tom's dimensional knife stabbing into her shoulder. Marco was back to his feet in an instant and he grabbed Star, leaping away with her held bridal style in his arms. Turning around he saw Tom shaking and staring at his bloodied blade, his body and clothes charred and his head missing a horn. Tom and Marco's eyes met and the demon turned and fled, using his knife to open a portal with which to escape.

"Are you alright Star?" Marco continued to hold the princess.

"I'm sorry" she replied.

"For what? You're not the one who showed up with an army of monsters to ruin our night. You have nothing to apologize for."

Star began to cry "You keep fighting for me and I can't do anything for you. I'm just a burden."

"Don't be silly." Marco snickered "I've been having the time of my fucking life these past weeks. You're not a burden Star. You're a sweet, innocent girl who needs help. How could I call myself a man if I didn't help you. Now no more talkin' like that. Let's check on the others" Entering the now nearly empty house, Marco laid Star down on the first chair he could find before making his way across the building to meet an awaiting Janna and Kelly. He greeted them with a nod "All clear?"

"Yeah" Janna answered "Daron helped evacuate everyone and we dealt with the monsters."

"No casualties?" he asked.

"No but, she's not taking it well" Janna pointed across the room. Marco became suddenly aware of the sobbing coming from behind him. He turned and saw Jackie, head held in her blood soaked hands. Marco took a step towards her. "Marco." Janna interjected sternly. He waved her off and approached the skater girl.

"I know you aren't very accepting of your heritage, but remember that you saved a lot of people tonight." He didn't look at her as he spoke and she didn't look at him. Returning solemnly to Janna he spoke again "Star got injured. I'm going to take her home"

"Okay. I think I want to make sure Jackie gets home safe. Kelly, you mind coming with me?"

"No problem" Kelly replied.

And so Marco returned to Star "Heal yourself?" he questioned her and she nodded in response. He once again lifted her up and carried her the entire way home, only putting her down to unlock the door. As he placed her down on her bed she reached out an caressed his face. She leaned up to kiss him and he pulled away. "What are you doing Star?"

"I thought since I can't fight I could…" she blushed and looked away.

"Star. You've had a rough night. I couldn't take advantage of you in an emotionally compromised state. I'm not that kind of guy. Just rest now, we can talk about everything that happened in the morning when the others get back." Marco quickly left the room and headed to his own. Star curled up in her bed, hugging her knees tight to her chest. She had run out of tears so all that came out were stifled sobs. When she awoke the next morning she was in the same position, exhausted from a restless sleep. As she stretched out and reorientated herself on the bed she noticed something. Opening her right hand she found a single heart-shaped purple scale. She was overcome with the urge to cry again.

When it rains it pours, it seems.


End file.
